According to industry experts, the real estate market in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has been affected by low prices of oil in the global markets.

The UAE's Energy Minister had maintained that the country was not affected by low oil prices due to its diversified economy. Experts have said that the country is not as immune to the oil prices as it is officially stated. The latest economic data for the month of April shows that the real estate market is facing the impact of low oil prices in the international markets.

The data showed that the April purchasing managers' index for the UAE recorded a fall of around two points from 54 in March to 52.8 in April. A rating of more than 50 means economic expansion but experts are concerned that the expansion in manufacturing and services without considering oil, is slowing recently. The employment rating also fell to 50 in April compared to 51.5 recorded for the month of March. The UAE banks are also reportedly feeling the impact as all of the big lenders in the emirates reported profit declines for the first quarter of the year.

Experts said that even as the UAE has a diversified economy, oil is among the main contributors to budget revenues and any impact on oil is expected to impact the whole economy. However, they pointed out that the impact of lower oil prices if much smaller on the UAE compared to other oil producers.